The co-operation between the university and its industrial partners within the frameworks of the BME Innovation and Knowledge Centre of IT, or BME (IT)² for short, has twofold objectives: on the one hand, it aims at creating research and development intensive, value-added products and services for use with complex IT systems applications; on the other, it expands the scope of co-operation between the university and its partners, and renders it self-sustainable by setting up practical innovation automatisms and business models.

The results of the R&D programmes are utilised in four major (product and service oriented) fields of exploitation and in the developments they give rise to. To attain the innovation objectives, the rules and procedures were formulated with the requirements of the application development projects borne in mind.

For seamless co-operation between the University and its partners, we have created - within the Knowledge Centre Hungary's first joint university-industry IT research, development and innovation workshop, where the researchers and developers of the University work together with experts from small, medium and multinational IT firms, resulting in a team of about 30 to 40 researchers and developers.

The 'R&D&I workshop' of BME (IT)² is the scene of actual and continuous collaboration, as this is where the industrial partners advise the University on the innovation needs of the market. The University's experts then provide the industrial partners with the latest methodology, model-based development frameworks and software production line, which in turn are used in the actual development of technology and application through the joint efforts of the University and its partners.

During the first three years, the so-called incubation period, BME (IT)² relies primarily on community sources. Its efficiency can be demonstrated by setting the foundations for a long-term, lucrative operation and by helping to realise specific social objectives. Accordingly, BME (IT)² helps achieve specific strategic objectives of the National Development Plan, such as stepping up economic competitiveness, the creation of innovative, knowledge based economy and increasing the revenue generating capabilities of small- and medium-sized enterprises. Through training, BME (IT)² fosters the development of innovation potential, and with the help of its professional expertise, it contributes to the modernisation of public services by means of creating electronic public services.